


I could be a damsel, and I'm often in distress, but I can handle it, so have a nice day, and move the fuck on

by cywscross



Series: Tumblr Prompts 2015 [5]
Category: Bleach
Genre: Alternate Universe, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Eventual Relationships, Gen, Genderbending, Prompt Fill, fem!ichigo - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-17
Updated: 2015-03-17
Packaged: 2018-03-07 23:50:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3187883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cywscross/pseuds/cywscross
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <strong>Ichigo is a girl.  This changes some things.  At the same time, it changes nothing at all.</strong>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [onesingledreamer](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=onesingledreamer).



> Gen for the most part. Faint hints of future pairings if you squint. Enjoy:)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Anonymous asked: OhmanohmanohmanOKOK genderswap Bleach fic with fem!Ichigo, maybe? Pairing or GEN optional PLEASE AND THANK YOU > U **

“We _deserve_ some time off,” Someone declares in the collectively exhausted wake of the Quincy War, and that’s how it starts.

“A party?”  Ichigo repeats blankly sometime later when she and Rukia are taking a break from the cleanup.  “What for?”

“For winning the war and forging an alliance with a long-time enemy,” Rukia explains matter-of-factly before grinning ruefully.  “Mostly, I think it’s just an excuse for everyone to get a chance to relax and have fun after everything that’s happened the past few years.  We haven’t had so much back-to-back trouble since… for as long as I can remember actually.”

Ichigo makes a face at the teasing smirk Rukia sends her way.  “Well, if I’m going, just remember that Ishida is going to be there too.  It wouldn’t be fair to leave him out.”

Rukia nods agreeably enough.  “Most people won’t mind; everybody knows that he’s one of yours so he’ll pretty much be expected to make an appearance, Quincy or not.  But the most important thing is that you’ll have to be there, obviously.  Hero of Soul Society and all.”

She giggles when Ichigo elbows her and pulls a revolted expression.  “Ugh, don’t even mention that.  It wasn’t like I defeated some bad guys singlehandedly or something, you know.  Everybody pitched in.  People died.”  Ichigo’s eyes darken.  “We _just_ finished holding the funerals yesterday.”

Rukia bites her lip before leaning sideways into Ichigo.  “I know.  And maybe that’s why people want to throw a party too.  To celebrate the people who _didn’t_ die.”

Ichigo sighs but nods in the end.  “Yeah, I guess.”  She looks out at the destruction that was wrought throughout all of Seireitei during the war.  “Might be good for raising morale at the very least.  What kind of party will it be anyway?”

“Casual,” Rukia informs her decidedly.  “The Shinigami will have their Zanpakutou probably, but they won’t be in uniform, if only to make the civilians feel more comfortable.”  She grins, quite suddenly, eyes lighting up with something devious.  “Hey Ichigo, you should come as a girl.”

Ichigo almost chokes on air.  “A- What?  _Why?_ ”

Rukia shrugs.  “For people’s reactions when they faint with shock?”  Ichigo gives her an unimpressed look.  Rukia tries again.  “Well, you’re a girl, Ichigo, and if you want to dress like one, you should.  This is the perfect time to dress up any way you like, and you’ll even get to pick out traditional Japanese dress!”

 Ichigo draws herself up indignantly.  “Who says I’d want to do that?”

Rukia gives her a don’t-be-stupid look.  “I’ve been shopping with you, Ichigo.  I’ve noticed what you like but never buy.”

“I like jeans and a shirt too!”  Ichigo rallies defensively.

“Yes, because you can be a bit of a tomboy,” Rukia acknowledges before her expression sours.  “But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t wear girl clothes whenever you want as well just because of that lunatic father of yours.”

Ichigo has to snort at that.  Rukia is only ever so openly hostile to people she _really_ doesn’t like, and as Ichigo’s best friend, it’s rather nice to have the shorter Shinigami take her side.

“Goat-face will be there,” Ichigo ends up grumbling.

Rukia rolls her eyes.  “What has that got to do with anything?  You’ll be the guest of honour, not him.  If he has a problem, then _he_ can go home!”

Ichigo barks out a laugh.  “You know, Kuukaku mentioned that the Shibas and Kuchikis have never gotten along and will never get along for the rest of our days.”

“Well, I’m not really a Kuchiki when it comes down to it,” Rukia points out.  “And you’re a Kurosaki, not a Shiba; there’s a difference, I think.  And even if we were our respective clans, we’ve proven all our ancestors wrong, haven’t we?”

Ichigo smirks rather smugly at this.  “Yeah, I’m pretty sure I’ve even gotten Byakuya to tolerate me by now.”

“You have a habit of doing that,” Rukia agrees dryly.  “So?  Gonna knock everyone’s socks off at the party or not?”

Ichigo leans back on her hands and looks up at the orange-streaked sky.  “Well, if nothing else, I suppose you’re right about the reactions I’ll get.”

Rukia beams happily, but there’s something darkly satisfied about the curl of her mouth too.  She _really_ seems to want to rub this in Goat-face’s face.  “I can’t wait then.”

Funny.  Despite all those battles she’s been through, all those struggles, all those hardships, despite the smile she shares with Rukia over the impending possibly hilarity-inducing fallout, Ichigo _can_.

 

* * *

 

It happens very quickly.  One moment, Ichigo is scowling indecisively at the spread of kimonos in front of her while Yoruichi chatters on excitedly from the side, and the next-

“ _He’s still not ready?  What’s taking so long?_ ”

“ _Wait, Renji, you can’t go in there-_ “

Bang!

“Oi, Ichigo, are you-”

Ichigo whirls around in surprise, blinking at Renji who was the one to throw open the door and already has both feet in the room.  A step behind him is Rukia, who’s looking increasingly ticked off, and Byakuya, who has his typical disinterested I-can’t-believe-the-Captain-Commander-has-forced-me-to-associate-with-you-plebians-once-again look on his face.

All that changes in a split second.  While Rukia only looks pissed on Ichigo’s behalf, Renji stutters to a stop and freezes the moment Ichigo turns to face him, most likely because she’s in nothing but her underwear and a bra.  All the blood rushes to his face so quickly that Ichigo is reminded of a stoplight, and he simply does not seem capable of doing anything but gawk openly at her, eyes glued to her breasts.

Byakuya is a little more subtle but no less surprised.  His eyes widen comically as they automatically execute a swift up-down of her figure, his cheeks taking on just the slightest hint of red, and for once, he looks like he has absolutely no idea how to react.

“You- You-” Renji finally manages to splutter out, and then, to Ichigo’s bewilderment, a trail of blood trickles from his nose.

A comb wings past Ichigo’s head and nails the redhead’s forehead with pinpoint accuracy.  Too bad it doesn’t do anything to stop the blatant ogling.  Yoruichi strides forward then and throws a robe over Ichigo’s shoulders before bracing her hands on her hips and giving Renji – and Byakuya – an evil-eyed glare.  “What are you doing still standing there, you perverts?  Get out!”

This at least seems to snap Byakuya out of his funk because he practically snaps to attention as if Yamamoto himself gave an order, hastily averting his gaze from Ichigo before taking a look around and catching sight of his lieutenant’s reaction.  The captain’s eyes instantly narrow as his sense of propriety kicks in.

With an audible smack, one of Byakuya’s hands claps over Renji’s eyes, and then the captain promptly proceeds to haul his catatonic lieutenant back out of the room with Rukia in tow, murmuring a faint “excuse us” over his shoulder before the door slams shut behind them.

Ichigo huffs and shucks her robe again.  “What was his problem?  He didn’t have to stare _that_ much just because he found out I’m a girl.”

“Sweetheart, you have a figure to die for,” Yoruichi says wisely, ruffling her hair.  “Trust me; he wasn’t staring just because he found out you’re a girl.

“Now,” Yoruichi picks up a green kimono.  “Let’s try this one on, okay?  I’ve wanted to dress you up since forever, and I’m not holding back now that you’ve finally said yes.”

“The party isn’t all that special,” Ichigo reminds her.  “I don’t have to wear anything too fancy.”

“Of course not,” Yoruichi agrees absently as she holds up the kimono against Ichigo and eyes it critically.  “What do you think of this colour?  It would look good with your hair.”

Ichigo sighs.

 

* * *

 

“She’s a girl?”  Renji finally manages to choke out after five minutes of shocked silence in the sitting room of the Shouten.

Rukia rolls her eyes, taking a sip of tea.  “Yes, you moron.  Why didn’t you listen to me when I told you to _stop_?  Pervert!”

“I didn’t know he- _she_ was a girl!”  Renji exclaims defensively, turning as red as his hair again as he dabs gingerly at his nose with a tissue.  “I wouldn’t have burst in like that if I’d known!  Besides, Taichou was staring too!”

Byakuya immediately takes offense to this, shooting back a frosty, “Hardly; I was simply taken aback, and I looked away as soon as possible.  I can hardly say the same for you, Abarai-fukutaichou.”

Ooh, Rukia winces.  It’s never good for Renji when Nii-sama breaks out the last names and titles these days.

Renji knows this too because he quails under Byakuya’s frigid gaze and has the good sense to look shamefaced.

“Why was he- she pretending to be a guy anyway?”  Renji mutters with no little confusion.  “And why didn’t you just _tell me_ since you apparently _knew_?”

Even Byakuya raises an eyebrow at Rukia at this question.  Rukia shrugs.  “It’s not my secret to tell if she wants to hide it, and I realized almost right away that pretty much everyone referred to her as a guy, either because they were used to it or because they didn’t know the truth, so I did too.”  She hesitates, fiddling with her mug.  “She hid it for a reason, so I didn’t go around blabbing about it.  It’s not like it really affects anybody else, does it?  Besides, it was less awkward for me since I _did_ spend a few months living in her closet.”

Byakuya seems to breathe an imperceptible sigh of relief upon this reminder.  Apparently, he still hasn’t quite gotten over his sister sleeping in the same room as a teenage male.

“Still, it’s not like she has anything to be ashamed of,” Renji mumbles, tingeing red again, but before Byakuya or Rukia could lay into him, someone else interrupts, voice deceptively cheery.

“And you would know that how, Freeloader-san?”  Urahara sweeps in, fan open even as he peers down at the redhead with a foreboding gleam in his eyes.

Renji flounders for a moment before griping, “For god’s sakes, I didn’t mean to walk in on her while she was practically naked-”

“You walked in on my goddaughter _while she was naked_?”  Urahara reiterates pleasantly.

Renji freezes.  “…Y- Your goddaughter?”

“Quite,” Urahara cocks his head in a distinctly ominous manner like he’s considering the best way to charbroil the unfortunate lieutenant alive.  “Kurosaki Ichigo is my goddaughter, and I have always felt an immediate, long-lasting, and frankly vengeful hatred for all those perverts out there who have ever even entertained the thought of peeking on her.  Understandable, of course; Ichi-chan is the very embodiment of everything beautiful in this world.  _However_ -” Urahara’s fan snaps shut, and his cane – _Zanpakutou, oh crap_ – taps once against the floorboards with menacing finality.  “-in no way does this change how I feel, Abarai-san.”

Renji gulps, already sweating.  He wonders if he still has time to run.  Probably not, seeing as neither his captain nor Rukia seem at all inclined to buy him even a few seconds for him to escape.

Salvation comes in the form of the very person they’re all talking about.

“Oh leave him alone, Kisuke.  He didn’t mean it, and it’s not like he really saw anything.  I was still in my underclothes.”

Urahara pouts theatrically as he straightens and spins around.  “But Ichi-chan, he’s a pervert!  You can’t let…”

The shopkeeper trails off as Ichigo enters the sitting room, and if the others aren’t just as stunned as he is, they would note this momentous occasion as the first time any of them has ever seen a speechless Urahara Kisuke.  Still, he recovers rather admirably, considering everyone else continues staring.

“Well,” Urahara smiles, soft and lacking its usual fox-sly edge.  “This is a nice surprise.”

Ichigo rolls her eyes from the doorway, but there’s something timid and uncertain in the way she’s standing, two adjectives that Renji has never before thought would ever be associated with Kurosaki Ichigo.

She’s wearing a striking forest green kimono with a delicate white floral pattern decorating it, along with a matching obi that carries a silvery sheen, and while Renji’s no fashionista, he can still say that the ensemble goes great with her hair, which is – obviously – cropped shorter than most females he knows, but still fits Ichigo’s face.

Looking at her now, Renji hasn’t the faintest clue how he could’ve ever mistaken Ichigo for a guy.

“Ichigo!”  Rukia breathes, leaping to her feet and rounding the table to join Ichigo.  “You look amazing!”

Ichigo _ducks her head_ , just for a moment, but she does, before straightening again with an embarrassed grin.  “You think so?”

“Of course; everyone thinks so,” Yoruichi interjects, sauntering into the room looking proud as heck.  She assesses Ichigo for a moment with a critical eye before reaching up to tug at the strands of hair falling into Ichigo’s eyes.  “We still have to do your hair though.”

Ichigo frowns, running a careless hand through her hair.  “It’s short; you can’t do anything with it.”

Yoruichi snorts and waves a dismissive hand before hooking an arm around Ichigo’s and towing her back out again.  “Oh trust me, Ichigo, there’s plenty I can do with it.  You like simple though, so I suppose I’ll have to stick to that.  Now come along.  Before the idiot over there pops his eyes out from all that gawking he’s doing.”

Ichigo disappears from the room, and Renji finds himself on the wrong end of three different glowers once again.

“You can’t blame me for looking!”  Renji howls in protest.

Rukia rolls her eyes, and Byakuya ignores him as Urahara stoops down, pours him some more tea, and hands it back to him with a frankly terrifying smile.

Renji has absolutely no doubt that his drink’s just been poisoned, even if he didn’t see it happen.  Hell if he’s drinking it now.

 

* * *

 

“I don’t like this,” Ichigo complains, grimacing down at herself.  One hand lifts to flick irritably at the string of tiny white flowers tucked just above her left ear.

“But you look lovely, Ichi-chan,” Kisuke assures.  All of them are gathered by the front door, all dressed nicely for an evening of fun and relaxation.

“But what if I have to fight?”  Ichigo complains distractedly.

“We’re going to a party, not another war,” Renji reminds her.  He finally seems to have gotten over whatever his problem was earlier, though he still seems a little thrown when he looks at her.

Byakuya on the other hand, after his initial shock passed, has gone back to his regular aloof demeanour, though he did hold open a door for her earlier, and he’s been subtle but very helpful with keeping Renji in line whenever he gapes a bit too long.

“And what if someone crashes that party?”  Ichigo counters.  It’s a legitimate concern.  Somebody’s _always_ crashing the party, or at least crashing Soul Society, and this time, it’s a party in Soul Society.  Some supervillain turning up because he wants revenge or world domination or just mass destruction does not take a very far stretch of the imagination.  “I’ll have to fight, and then I’ll probably rip this kimono.  You know what?  I should change back to something more practic-”

“No,” Rukia cuts her off flatly, quickly sliding over to stand between Ichigo and the hallway leading back to her room at the Shouten.  “You’ve decided to do this, so you’re going to do this.  You _want_ to, don’t you?”

“Well-” Ichigo breaks off, smoothing away invisible wrinkles on her kimono.  “Yeah.  Yeah, of course.  It’s just-”

She stops again, but this time, it’s mostly because of the approaching reiatsu signature, and without meaning to, she tenses up.

Ichigo has always been bullheadedly brave, to the point of suicidal at times.  That bravery deserts her today.

“I’m going to change,” She announces, making to push past Rukia, only for her godfather to halt her with a hand on her forearm.

“Ichigo,” Kisuke says, and it comes out equal parts warning and displeasure, the latter of which probably isn’t directed at her.

The front door is thrown open before she can respond.  “Kisuke!  Is everyone ready?  I just dropped the girls off at their friend’s-”

Kurosaki Isshin trails off, words withering away the second he catches sight of Ichigo.  Tension skyrockets, and Ichigo has no choice but to bite the bullet, square her shoulders, and stand up straight, chin lifting an inch as she faces her father down like she would an Espada.

“Isshin-san,” Kisuke steps in to fill the silence, and while he’s smiling as genially as always, there’s absolutely nothing friendly about the look in his eyes.  “Doesn’t your daughter look particularly beautiful tonight?”

A beat of silence, and then, “Hahaha!”  Ichigo’s father honks out, but it’s stilted at best, and Ichigo doesn’t miss the way his eyes skitter away from her.  “Ichigo, don’t you think you’re a little too old to be playing dress-up with Yoruichi?  And we’ll be late if you don’t get dressed soon; better hurry up and get read-”

“She’s ready,” Yoruichi interrupts, gliding out of the shadows, and the steel in her features holds the command of an Onmitsukidou commander.  “This is how she’s going to the party.  This is how she wants to dress today.  D’you have a problem with that, Isshin?”

Ichigo’s dad’s gaze snaps up again to meet Yoruichi’s this time, and his expression tightens.  “He’s the hero of Soul Society; he should dress for the occasion-”

“ _She_ can dress in rags for all anybody cares, and she’d still be Kurosaki Ichigo, and Soul Society would still appreciate her for everything she’s done!”  Yoruichi snarls, and in that moment, she looks far more like a tiger than the cat she prefers.

“I’m just saying he should-”

“Your firstborn is a _daughter_ , Isshin-san,” Kisuke bulldozes over him with ice in his smile and danger in his eyes.  “You seem to have forgotten that somewhere along the way.”

Ichigo’s father reddens ever so slightly even as he draws himself up like an offended bear, but he doesn’t get another word in edgewise before Yoruichi flicks out a hand in a sharp gesture at their hushed audience, golden eyes never wavering from her target’s face.

“You three get her outta here,” She orders in a low growl.  “Don’t argue with me, Ichigo.  There’s a discussion I’ve been meaning to have with your father that’s _long_ overdue.”

“Go meet up with your friends and head for Seireitei,” Kisuke adds a touch more gently, eyes thawing for a few seconds.  “We’ll be right behind you.”

It’s Rukia who moves first, grabbing Ichigo’s hand and towing her from the Shouten with Renji and Byakuya bringing up the rear.  Everybody notices the dirty look she shoots Ichigo’s father on their way out.

“Okay, what the hell was that?”  Renji explodes the minute they’re half a block away from the shop.  In the distance, all four of them can _still_ hear Yoruichi shouting from the Shouten.  The former captain didn’t waste a second before tearing into Ichigo’s dad the moment Ichigo and the others cleared the building.

Ichigo automatically scowls, shifting uncomfortably on the spot.  “It’s nothing.”

At the same time, Rukia bites out, “If he does anything remotely insulting to you at the party, I reserve the right to use my Bankai on him.”

Ichigo snorts half-heartedly, wrinkling her nose when even Renji taps a finger against the hilt of his Zanpakutou, a frown that matches Rukia’s beginning to form on his face as well.

“I don’t get it,” Renji says bluntly, looking between Rukia and Ichigo.  “But do I have to kick his ass?”

“No!”  “ _Yes_.”

Ichigo heaves a long-suffering sigh.  “Rukia-”

“It’s not fair to you, Ichigo!”  Rukia barks fiercely, rounding on her.  “Just because somebody wants you to be something else doesn’t mean you should just go along with it, even if he is your father!  _You_ taught _me_ that!  I tried for the longest time to be what all those nobles wanted me to be even though I knew I’d never be good enough in their eyes!  It was a waste of my _life_ until you showed me I could just be myself.  You taught me that, so you can’t not do the same, idiot!”

“But it’s _not_ -”

“Am I to understand,” Byakuya uncharacteristically interrupts, scrutinizing Ichigo rather closely.  “That Shiba Isshin wants a son and not a daughter for his firstborn?”  Ichigo’s scowl deepens.  Byakuya forges on heedlessly, brow creasing almost imperceptibly.  “I was under the impression that the Shiba Clan does not care whether their potential heirs are males or females.  The current head is female.”

Ichigo is startled enough to stop scowling, blinking bemusedly at Byakuya instead.  “…Oh.  _Oh_ , you think- Nah, that’s not-”

She sighs again and reaches up to rake a hand through her hair, only for Rukia to catch her wrist and glance pointedly at Yoruichi’s overall handiwork.  Ichigo makes a face but lowers her hand back to her side.

“I didn’t even know I was a Shiba until the Quincy War started,” Ichigo explains at last.  “I mean, I suspected.  I look a bit like Kaien and a lot like Kuukaku, and I’m not _that_ dense.  But this-” She motions at herself.  “-began years ago, so it doesn’t have anything to do with heirs or whatever.  Besides, Kuukaku’s doing fine as clan head, and Goat-face ran away from all his responsibilities as captain and clan head to marry my mom; I can’t say I’m an expert at running clans but I don’t think he really has any right to have a say in how to run the Shiba Clan after deserting his post, even if it was for, uh, love?  So even if he did want Kuukaku to make me her successor or something just in case she died, I think she should still tell Goat-face to stick his opinion where the sun doesn’t shine, whether or not she agrees.”

One corner of Byakuya’s mouth twitches before flattening back into its typical neutral line.  Ichigo grins back.  She knew she’s been getting to him.

“But that’s not really-” She shrugs a little, turning to stare sightlessly back in the general direction of the Shouten.  “…I look too much like my mom, even when I was a kid, and after she- after she died, my dad didn’t really- he didn’t want a reminder staring him in the face twenty-four/seven.”

She’s started now, and the words suddenly come much more easily, a jumble of a confession on a mostly empty street with three Shinigami as her witnesses.

“It was… okay at first,” She mumbles, gaze focused on the sunset that’s setting the horizon on fire.  “My dad took his meals in the clinic when I was around, and that upset the girls – my sisters – so I just went over to Tatsuki’s for most of my meals.  That way, I wouldn’t be around, and Goat-face could spend time with the twins.  They were still really young, and they’d already lost mom; I didn’t want them growing up without a dad too because of me.

“But Goat-face is a crap cook, and growing children shouldn’t live on charcoal and takeout,” Ichigo scowls at the mere thought.  “The twins were only five at the time, and Yuzu didn’t know how to cook.  I wouldn’t let her near the stove anyway, so I _had_ to be there to cook for them and pack lunches for them because they were starting kindergarten that year.  Goat-face worked in the clinic all day too, and he’s not really what you’d call particularly attentive about everyday details, like… _somebody_ had to walk the girls to and from school to make sure they weren’t kidnapped or something, and somebody had to go shopping for their school supplies, and somebody had to sign Karin up for the local soccer club, and somebody had to go pick Yuzu up from school when she sprained an ankle falling from the monkey bars on the playground.”

Ichigo whirls around, her entire body stiff and unyielding as old memories are dredged up.  “So I _had_ to be there, I had to be at home to take care of the girls, especially when they got upset that I _wasn’t_ there.  Karin started getting into fights at school.  Yuzu was crying every other day because she was scared the family was falling apart.  So.”  She huffs.  “I figured if Goat-face didn’t want me around because I looked like mom, then I just wouldn’t look like my mom; problem solved.  I cut my hair, and we could actually sit through meals together again.  And I started wearing boy clothes, and I even ordered the male uniform for school, and everything was- everything was okay again.  So long as I looked more like a boy, then I didn’t look too much like my mom, and everything went back to normal.  Mostly normal.  But it was- it was better.  Things got better.”

She stops and takes a deep breath, and then she squints at Renji who’s turned a mottled red.  “What’s up with you?”

Rukia scoffs, folding her arms.  “Isn’t that obvious?  Renji agrees with me.”

Renji’s nostrils flare, and his hand clenches around Zabimaru.  “I’m gonna kick his ass until his _balls_ recede into his-”

Byakuya shoots him a frigid look to shut him up, probably reprimanding Renji for his language, but his eyes are dark when they glance back at Ichigo, and he looks about as displeased as when someone – anyone – is threatening Rukia.

“He was always a foolish man,” The Kuchiki Clan Head offers coolly.  “It seems he has only become an even greater fool with time.”

Ichigo should probably protest all this verbal abuse heaped on- Yeah, who is she kidding?  Everyone who’s ever known Kurosaki Isshin seemed to have something negative to say about his character.

Rukia, Ichigo recalls.  Looks a lot like Hisana.  And while Byakuya was distant with his sister-in-law for the longest time, it was never because she looked too much like his dead wife, and he’d still done his best to take care of Rukia despite the… fumbles along the way.

Ichigo’s dad though… Has he ever even _tried_?  Because, in the end, wasn’t it Ichigo whom the twins depended on for homework troubles and scraped knees and permission for field trips and new clothes as they grew and even that talk about periods just a few years ago?  Ichigo, not Goat-face – the doctor, and their _dad_.

It’s… rather sad, all told.  Kinda pathetic too, because to Ichigo, and to Karin and Yuzu, it’s perfectly _normal_.

But these three say it isn’t, or at least the sentiment is implied, and they’re all righteously angry on her behalf, and it warms something inside her, gives her strength where there wasn’t before.

“It doesn’t matter,” Ichigo says with finality, rolling her shoulders to loosen them.  “Kisuke and Yoruichi’s right; I want to go dressed like this tonight, so I will, screw Goat-face.”

Rukia brightens, and Renji grins, and even Byakuya looks faintly approving.

“We’re just waiting on the others then,” Renji says briskly, though he still peers back over his shoulder in the direction of the Shouten as if he’s tempted to storm that place to dole out some serious damage.

“They are here,” Byakuya tilts his head to the left, and seconds later, even Ichigo picks up their respective reiatsu signatures.

“Do _they_ know?”  Renji suddenly perks up.

Ichigo rolls her eyes.  “Yes, they do.”  Renji droops so Ichigo appeases him with, “But most people in Seireitei don’t.  Only the Visored do.”

Renji cheers up again.  He snickers.  “Oh damn, I can’t wait!  It’s gonna be awesome.  I wish I’d brought a camera.”

An evil smile crosses Rukia’s face as she fishes one out.  “Don’t worry; I have one.”

Renji cackles.  Byakuya looks like he wants to roll _his_ eyes but was too refined to actually go through with it.  Instead, he turns, unsheathes his Zanpakutou, and proceeds to open a doorway into Soul Society, just as Inoue, Ishida, and Chad rounds the corner.

“Oh!  Is it Kurosaki-chan today then?”  Inoue chirps, taking Ichigo’s new wardrobe completely in stride as she bounces up.

“Isn’t that a bit of a mouthful?”  Ichigo muses.  “You could just call me Ichigo.”

“Ichigo-chan then,” Inoue directs a brilliant smile at her.  She glows in the pink and white kimono she’s chosen, hair done up in a bun with kanzashi in her hair.

“You’re still Kurosaki to me,” Ishida throws out, adjusting his glasses.  “I don’t know why I have to go.  Me, partying with Shinigami; what has the world come to?  People will be whispering insults left and right, and while I won’t care-” _Liar_ , Ichigo thinks with a mix of fondness and annoyance.  “-it’s going to get irritating fast.”

“If they do that, we’ll all leave,” Chad states calmly, and Inoue is already nodding staunchly while Ichigo makes an agreeable noise at the back of her throat.

“What Chad said,” Ichigo concurs, pretending not to notice the dusting of pink on Ishida’s cheeks.  The poor guy just had to be born with pale skin.  Ah well.  More entertainment for Ichigo.  “The party’s just a party when it comes down to it.  Now is everyone ready to go?”

“Where are Yoruichi-san and Urahara-san?”  Inoue enquires inquisitively.  “And I thought your father was coming as well?”

“They’re… held up a bit,” Ichigo says evasively.  He gets a sideways look from Ishida for that, but other than that, nobody pushes for more.  “Right then, let’s go.”

“The legal way this time,” Byakuya murmurs in a deadpan, and it startles a laugh out of Ichigo.

Who knew Kuchiki Byakuya has a sense of humour?

 

* * *

 

“My beautiful moon!  My radiant sun!  My-”

Ichigo slams a fist into Shinji’s face to shut him up.  The blond goes flying backwards, straight into Hiyori’s range and gets kicked for his efforts.

Suffice to say, arriving in Seireitei has been rather… chaotic.  Not a single person – Visored aside, and Unohana too if she were still alive; Ichigo can almost hear her (“You have been under my personal care multiple times, Kurosaki-san; please do give me some credit, or at the very least, do have _some_ faith in my ability to differentiate a female body from a male’s.”) – who didn’t at least do a double-take.  Some… well.  Rukia’s camera hasn’t stopped flashing, enough said.

Ichigo says and stoops down over the prone figure at her feet.  “Oi, Toshirou, are you dead?”

Toshirou groans, face smooshed into the ground like he’s trying to make himself disappear.  That, or he’s trying to pretend the world around him doesn’t exist.

Ichigo has to smirk.  The captain was being distracted by Matsumoto while both were on their way to greet the arriving group of humans, and he wasn’t watching where he was going.  So of course, Toshirou walked straight into Ichigo.  More specifically, being as short as he is, Toshirou walked straight into Ichigo’s boobs.

It actually took the captain a long minute to register what was going on, a minute that consisted of staring from Ichigo’s breasts to her face and then back to her breasts.  Then he turned as red as a brick, opened his mouth, produced a wheezing sound akin to a dying walrus, and then promptly keeled over in a dead faint.

Renji’s still howling with laughter on the ground.  Matsumoto, after picking up her jaw from the floor, looked like Christmas came early, and Ichigo is willing to bet an arm that she’ll be teasing her captain about this for a long time to come.  Rukia’s got it all on camera.

“I’m going to kill you, Kurosaki,” Toshirou mutters into the ground.  “I don’t care if you’re a girl.  This isn’t _funny_.”

Ichigo just bursts out laughing.  All around her are comrades and friends that she knows, slowly getting over their shock and ribbing each other instead about the more extreme reactions.  She’s seen Ukitake whack Kyouraku over the head and begin scolding him when the latter barely misses a beat before leering playfully at her in jest.

Kira is currently choking on air with Hisagi helpfully pounding him on the back, a mildly amused look on his tattooed face as he nods a quiet greeting at Ichigo.

Yumichika has been flitting back and forth between her and Inoue, examining their respective kimonos with an appreciative eye while Ikkaku and Kenpachi kind of look like they want to challenge Ichigo to another fight right then and there, as if her being a girl is suddenly chafing their pride.

And of course, Shinji’s been flirting nonstop, and even Ichigo’s noticed the black look Byakuya’s been aiming at the Visored as if Shinji’s besmirched every Kuchiki’s honour in the span of five minutes.

That man and propriety, honestly.  For some reason though, Rukia cracked up when Ichigo remarked on this observation.

Then Kisuke and Yoruichi show up, but Ichigo’s father doesn’t.

“He decided to have a night in after all,” Yoruichi informs her, but there’s a gleam in the Shihouin’s eyes, as well as something nasty in the curve of Kisuke’s smile, that makes Ichigo wonder if she’ll be returning home come tomorrow to an injured father.

“Come on, Ichigo,” Rukia appears at her side, having had her fill of photos for now apparently.  “There are stalls set up with food and games, so it’s just like a festival.  Do you want to get dango first?”

Ichigo promptly forgets Toshirou still lying on the ground, though he’s started thunking his forehead against the floorboards now.

“Sure,” Ichigo readily agrees even as Omaeda walks into a lamppost with a doink!  Sui-Feng sinks a foot into his gut for that, though she has her eyebrows quirked as she regards Ichigo from afar.

People are taking it well overall though, Ichigo decides as she and Rukia sets off down one festively lit street.  They’re surprised, but not unpleasantly so, as Ichigo was inwardly – admittedly – half-expecting.  It was a stupid, unrelated comparison, but if her own father didn’t like her as a girl – a grown-ass woman now actually – then…

But the Shinigami don’t care, her friends and allies don’t care.  Half of them think it’s a grand prank, and the other half look sort of resigned, as if it’s pretty much become a fact of life to them that Kurosaki Ichigo will always be shocking them one way or another.

The last bit of tension that’s had Ichigo somewhat wired and wary seeps away.  Maybe she’s been worried over nothing.  It’s a party after all, among friends.

“There’s dango!”  Rukia cheers, pointing ahead before snagging Ichigo’s arm and dragging her towards the stand.

Ichigo smiles and picks up her pace.  She thinks she’ll really enjoy this evening, far more than she originally anticipated.

“Let me treat you,” Shinji materializes beside her with a cheesy grin.  “It can be our first date-”

Ichigo punches him again.  She could do without the flirting though.  Idiot.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Please leave a review on your way out.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **onesingledreamer asked: (1) genderswap, Bleach, KHR, or steter**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **For onesingledreamer**

“Masaki used to do that.”

Ichigo freezes, a spoonful of yogurt in her mouth. And then she turns around jerkily to face Ryuuken, who’s watching her impassively from over the top of his newspaper. “...Um?”

Ryuuken gives the impression of shrugging without actually shrugging before nodding at the way Ichigo is currently balanced on one slippered foot, her other foot holding the fridge door open to fetch a second yogurt for Ishida.

“Your mother used to do that,” The resident doctor clarifies without inflection. “Pajamas and all.”

Ichigo stares down at her own foot for a long moment. “Oh.”

She isn’t sure what else to say. Belatedly, she grabs a vanilla yogurt before nudging the fridge door shut again, and then turning back to Ryuuken. The Quincy’s still regarding her coolly. Ichigo doesn't know what he’s waiting for.

Awkwardly, she shuffles forward a few steps, torn between heading back upstairs and sticking around for a few minutes.

Ishida invited her over for the weekend (not in so many words, but Ichigo’s getting pretty adept at Ishida-speak these days), something the younger Quincy probably hasn't ever done in his entire life, but all of Ichigo’s friends know that her family situation at home isn’t the best at the moment, not after Ichigo started filling her closet with a few tank tops and a skirt, and just generally heading over to the female section instead of the male’s when she went shopping ever since the ‘Yay, we’re alive!’ party up in Seireitei several weeks back. That’s not to say she doesn't wear jeans and somewhat baggy t-shirts anymore; most of the time, she still does, but she’s also started growing her hair out a bit, and on occasion, she lets Inoue and Tatsuki pick her outfit for the day.

And – needless to say – her father hasn't exactly been thrilled with these changes. It’s made for tense confrontations at home, with Goat-face obstinately insisting on referring to Ichigo as a boy, always ‘he’ or ‘him’, to the point where even _Yuzu’s_ gotten fed up with the man. She and Karin have been having an increasing number of sleepovers at their friends’ houses as well, citing that if Goat-face was going to kick Ichigo out, then they wouldn't be sticking around either.

So Ichigo’s been rotating between Chad’s, Inoue’s, Tatsuki’s, and Ishida’s homes, though surprisingly, she’s been spending most nights at the Ishida household than all the others combined. The first time she showed up, Ryuuken didn't even bat an eye. In fact, he looked like he was expecting it despite the fact that Ishida didn't actually inform his father that Ichigo would be moving into the guestroom for the foreseeable future.

Today is the first time she’s actually been alone in a room with her uncle though (and isn’t that a trip; she has an honest-to-god _uncle_ , _and_ a grumpy cousin to boot). Ryuuken usually goes to work early and mostly gets back in time for dinner so they don’t see each other a whole lot throughout each week. Ichigo’s taken over the cooking in the household to pull her own weight, even automatically packing a lunch for all three of them in the mornings since she used to do it for the twins all the time, and seeing as how neither Ishida has complained, she’ll assume that they like her food.

“...She ate yogurt in the middle of the night?” Ichigo asks at last. It’s two in the morning at the moment, and since it’s Saturday, she managed to coax Ishida into marathoning Korean dramas with her. They both heard Ryuuken come home only about half an hour ago, his work at the hospital probably having run late. He has the Tupperware of lasagna that Ichigo whipped up for dinner and set aside for the senior Quincy sitting beside his right arm.

Ryuuken hums a low note, folding up his newspaper and setting it aside before reaching for his dinner. “Masaki was something of a night owl, and she liked snacking on food while reading in bed. And she ran away a lot so she tended to take food with her then too.”

Ichigo blinks. “She... ran away a lot?”

Ryuuken swallows a bite of lasagna. “She was rather unhappy in our old home, with a betrothal to me, and numerous expectations heaped on her by the main branch.”

Ichigo knew about the betrothal. She didn't know her mother was unhappy enough to repeatedly run away from it. Then again, if it was Ichigo... she’d find a loophole somehow. That, or – if that wasn't possible – she’d do what her mother did, run away, and there would be no ‘repeatedly’ about it. Ichigo would get out of the country if that’s what it took, and never come back.

“Were you and Mom really close?” She’s drifted over to the dinner table by now.

Ryuuken actually looks faintly amused at this. “Not for the longest time. She resented me, and I found her highly annoying, never doing what she was told, and always making trouble. Crying in her room after being grounded or sent to bed without dinner because she was acting out, only to break one rule or another all over again the very next day.”

He falls silent for several beats, attention returning to his lasagna. Ichigo hangs onto every word, savours them, and tucks them away for safekeeping.

“But it was admirable too, I suppose,” Ryuuken murmurs at last, so softly that Ichigo almost doesn't hear. “She never did bow to anyone trying to tell her what to do, and she never failed to rebel in her own way when she didn't agree with those around her.”

Ichigo purses her lips around her spoon to hide a smile. Her mom sounds a bit like a badass, even as a girl.

“Kurosaki!” Came Ishida’s voice from upstairs, impatient and disgruntled. “How long does it take to get yogurt? I’m going to press play if you don’t get back up here soon!”

Ichigo huffs, unsurprisingly reluctant to leave right now. Nobody ever talks about her mom, not after she died, and never in-depth like this. Oh sure, Goat-face wails her name and throws himself at her poster all the time, but that was it, and it was _so damn irritating_.

“I’m coming!” She hollers back, straightening from where she was leaning her forearms against the back of a chair. “And don’t start without me!”

“Then hurry up!”

Ichigo rolls her eyes before glancing back at Ryuuken. She hesitates, not sure if the doctor would be willing to share more memories of her mother another time. She may not know him particularly well, but even she can tell that Ishida Ryuuken is a rather private person.

There’s no harm in asking though.

“Can you tell me more later?” She asks hopefully. “Nobody- Goat-face doesn't really talk about Mom very much.”

Something like disdain flickers across Ryuuken’s features. “No, I don’t suppose he would,” He remarks before levelling another pokerfaced look on Ichigo. “Some other time then. You’d best get back to my son.”

Ichigo brightens, flashing a grin in thanks before almost bouncing out of the room, already making plans to relay everything Ryuuken will tell her to the twins. Her uncle isn’t nearly the block of ice he likes to pretend to be.

“Kurosaki!”

“ _I’m coming!_ Keep your hair on, you aggravating prissy-pants!”

“ _What_ did you call me? Where do you even get your insults these days, you illiterate monkey? They've gotten _worse_.”

In retaliation for that comment, Ichigo puts on some extra speed and bursts back into Ishida’s bedroom, startling its occupant in the process – especially when Ichigo throws a cup of yogurt at him – and then she snags a pillow off the floor and promptly smacks the Quincy over the head with it.

The positively baffled look on Ishida’s glasses-skewed face – as if no one’s ever dared whack him with a pillow before – makes Ichigo cackle with delight.

Right before she gets a pillow thrown in her face mere moments later. Then it’s just open war for the next fifteen minutes.

 

* * *

 

When Kyouraku sent a Hell Butterfly down with a request for a meeting, this is not what Ichigo had in mind.

“An alliance with the Arrancar is good, isn’t it?” Ichigo asks as they stroll through a cherry blossom garden behind the First Division barracks. “Even if it’s just a tentative agreement or whatever? And Harribel’s pretty level-headed. I'm sure you’d be able to reach some sort of compromise if both sides control their tempers.”

“Yes, of course,” Kyouraku agrees, and even months later, it’s still a little disconcerting to see the man walking around with an eyepatch. “The problem is, Harribel – along with Nelliel and that blue-haired one who’s always so prone to violence-”

“Grimmjow,” Ichigo supplies with a grimace.

“-yes, him,” Kyouraku nods. “As you know, they speak for the Arrancar as a whole, and all three of them have flat-out refused to deal with the Gotei 13 without you as a go-between.”

Ichigo’s jaw drops. Kyouraku chuckles but his eye remains sombre.

“But- _why_?” Ichigo stammers. “It’s not like I know them really well or anything. I mean, I know Nel, we’re friends, but Grimmjow wants to strangle me half the time, and Harribel and I really haven’t interacted much at all.”

“No,” Kyouraku acknowledges. “But you were the one who saved those Fraccion of hers when you didn’t have to, and a debt like that isn’t so easily forgotten, not even for Arrancar.”

“You should cut that out,” Ichigo advises absently even as she stares thoughtfully at the koi in the large pond several feet away. “That attitude. ‘Not even for Arrancar’. That’s bullshit. You’re already treating them as if Shinigami are naturally better than them, like Arrancar don’t understand honour. You’re not gonna be able to change anything thinking like that.”

The silence stretches. When Ichigo looks up, Kyouraku looks... regretful. “What?”

“It really is too bad that you’re still so young, and you have your human life to live,” Kyouraku tells her with a sigh. “I would've liked to have you closer on hand, if only to remind me of things like that.”

Ichigo frowns, more than a little confused. “Why? I didn't say anything special. You know – don’t treat someone as anything less than your equal, especially if you want to get along with them. That’s just common sense.”

“Well,” Kyouraku shakes his head, expression indecipherable despite the typical easygoing cordiality lining his face. “Maybe the Shinigami could do with some common sense.”

He doesn't say anything more on the subject, which is probably for the best because it's only serving to mystify Ichigo further. Instead, the Captain-Commander redirects them back to the main issue, quickly summarizing Harribel’s terms.

“I’m leaving Karakura after I graduate,” Ichigo informs the Shinigami. “We all are; we’ve all been accepted into Todai. I’m going into medicine, Ishida’s applying for fashion and design, Inoue’s aiming for the forensics field, and Chad’s entering on a music scholarship. But... we won’t be busy every minute of the day, and a Senkaimon can take us between Todai and Soul Society, right? So we can still help out, but not as much anymore.”

She pauses, mulling over the dilemma. “Maybe we could hammer out a compromise before the others and I graduate? I guess I’ll have to talk to Harribel first before anything happens though. And you might want Ishida nearby when you handle the Quincy. Just saying.”

Kyouraku sighs somewhat mournfully. “You mean if I can get him to agree.”

Ichigo smirks. “Just ask nicely. Ishida isn’t that bad.”

“Compared to that boy I met when four suicidal humans decided to invade Soul Society,” Kyouraku agrees dryly, smiling at Ichigo’s indignant squawk. “He’s certainly mellowed out.”

They’re quiet for a while after that, Ichigo crouching down to dip her fingers into the pond and play with the fish while Kyouraku alternates between watching the cherry blossoms and watching her.

“Medicine?” The Captain-Commander eventually enquires, tone light.

Ichigo glances back over her shoulder before shrugging. “I’ve fought enough, I think. And I’ve been good at it too, protecting people by fighting. Killing. So now I want to learn how to protect people by healing.”

She rises to her full height again, simultaneously spinning around to face Kyouraku. “I'm great with a blade, or my fists, or anything that could curbstomp anyone trying to hurt my friends into the ground. But... I guess I just want to take a break from that. I want to try protecting people without killing things for once. Do you think... that’s okay?”

Kyouraku is already smiling at her, faint and unusually solemn but carrying a warmth that reaches all the way to his ancient gaze. “I think that’s perfectly okay, Ichigo-chan. If that’s what you want to do, then do it, and make sure you do it well.”

Ichigo finds herself smiling back. She’s still smiling hours later when she’s back in the human world, telling Ryuuken over dinner that she’ll be back in a few years for an internship at his hospital.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Please leave a review on your way out.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Anonymous asked: Ichigo, genderswap ~~or soulmates~~.**

 

“Kurosaki! How long does it take to get ready? We’re going to be late!”

“Chad and Inoue aren’t even here yet!” Ichigo yells back, stuffing an extra windbreaker into her duffel bag before heading for the door.

She’s downstairs within seconds, joining Ishida and Ryuuken in the kitchen, the former with his nose buried in a printout of today’s train schedule, and the latter fixing himself some breakfast before going to work.

“Ishida, even if we miss the train, it’s not the end of the world,” Ichigo sighs, accepting the bagel Ryuuken hands her with a nod of thanks. “We’ll just take the next one.”

“ _Then_ we’ll have to wait at least half an hour at the station,” Ishida snaps back irritably. “And we’re in Karakura; it’ll already take two hours to get to Bunkyou so there’s no way I’m going to- mrph!”

Ichigo rolls her eyes even as she retrieves her hand from where she’s just stuffed a piece of toast into Ishida’s mouth. “Eat, and stop fretting. Everything will be fine, but I’m not carting your ass around if you faint from hunger along the way.”

Ishida’s glower could murder a god but he does bite off a mouthful, chewing rather aggressively before swallowing. “I don’t like being _late_ , Kurosaki.”

Ichigo only smirks in reply. “And we won’t be. Worse comes to worst, I’ll open a Garganta for us, okay?”

Ishida heaves an aggravated sigh. “ _You’re_ the one who said you wanted to take the train.”

“And I do,” Ichigo finishes off the last of her bagel. “Which is why we won’t be late. I can’t wait; even if we’re moving, we’ll still be able to see some of the sights along the way.”

Ishida squints at her and opens his mouth to say something, but then the doorbell rings, and they both call out, “Door’s unlocked!”

They hear the door swing open and then shut again, and then Inoue and Chad bustle in, each with their own duffel bag and dressed for a long day out.

“Good morning, everyone!” Inoue chirps, bouncing over to Ichigo’s side. “Ichigo-chan, my camera broke last night; do you think we could share yours?”

Ichigo’s already digging into her bag. “I have an extra. It’s Yuzu’s but she lent it to me for the day just in case. You can borrow it.”

Inoue smiles with relief, accepting the camera with careful hands.

“Wait, why do you need a camera?” Ishida cuts in, frowning in puzzlement. “You could just use your phone.”

“Then the quality wouldn’t be as good, Ishida-kun,” Inoue pouts, stashing the camera away. “And I hear the Koishikawa Botanical Gardens are beautiful this time of the year so I need to take good pictures.”

“The Koi-” Ishida levels all of them with a look of disbelief. “I thought we were going apartment hunting!”

“Well we are,” Ichigo assures, hand dipping into her bag again to show Ishida the notebook that the four of them filled with notes on various apartment buildings that they would be visiting. “But we’re not gonna do that the entire _week_. What’s the fun in that?”

Ishida gives her flat look and even crosses his arms. “We’re not there to have fun. And what’s the big deal anyway? It’s still Tokyo.”

Ichigo huffs. “We’re going to Eastern Tokyo, Ishida. I've never even been out of Karakura. You can bet your ass we’re going sightseeing too, so stop being such a party-pooper.”

Ishida overlooks the insult in favour of blinking incredulously at her. “You’ve never been out of Karakura?”

“Nope,” Ichigo snags another bagel, one that Ryuuken’s just finished buttering. The elder Quincy doesn't bat an eye; he just starts toasting another one. “Before Mom died, she was busy with the twins, and Yuzu was really frail as a kid, sick a lot, so we didn't travel to other places for vacations. And after Mom died, I took over and raised my sisters. I didn't exactly have time to be gallivanting around Japan.”

“I was born in Kyoto but I've never left Karakura either after I moved here when I was three,” Inoue volunteers, eyeing the bagels longingly before brightening and taking one when Ryuuken gives her a stoic nod. “My brother and I ran away when Sora-nii turned eighteen, and I’ve stayed in this town ever since.”

Chad rumbles out a quiet thank-you as he also grabs a slice of bread before glancing back at Ishida. “I was born in Okinawa but then my family moved to Mexico. I came back to Japan when I was twelve, into Karakura, and I’ve never left since then either.”

Ishida stares dumbly at them for a long minute. All three raise expectant eyebrows back at him until Ishida pinches the bridge of his nose. “I can’t believe- oh never mind.”

“I take it _you’ve_ been out of Karakura then?” Ichigo asks, more than a little amused, although, all joking aside, she thinks that it says something about the four of them that they’re willing to divulge their pasts so easily to each other these days.

“Obviously,” Ishida grumbles. “My grandfather took me on holidays sometimes. I've even seen Todai already.”

“Well that’s great!” Inoue clasps her hands together. “You can be our tour guide!”

“Wait, what-”

“Oh, sounds like a plan,” Ichigo agrees, nodding along.

“I haven’t agreed-”

“We’re counting on you, Ishida,” Chad throws in, only a hint of a grin giving him away.

Ishida subsides and glares at all of them before casting his gaze up at the ceiling like he’s asking for divine intervention. That, or he’s wondering what he did to deserve the three idiots standing in his kitchen.

Ichigo smiles to herself. He stood and fought when the going got tough, that’s what he did.

“Alright, fine,” Ishida finally concedes with a defeated sigh, though he doesn't sound nearly as annoyed as he likes to pretend. “I can’t have you running around your own capital city without a clue as to where you are.” He pauses in thought. “I think I have a few tourist brochures from years ago; I’ll go get them.”

He hurries out of the kitchen, leaving Ichigo, Inoue, and Chad to exchange conspiratorial grins.

“He’s adorable,” Ichigo snickers.

“I hope you don’t tease him too much every day, Ichigo-chan,” Inoue giggles.

“ _You_ started it this time,” Ichigo shoots back.

“And you start it every other time,” Chad interjects. “Or you argue, though I guess those are the same things for you two these days.”

Ichigo shrugs, smile fading a little. “It takes his mind off the war. It takes _my_ mind off the war too.”

At that, they fall silent. The casualties on both sides and the death-defying battles they each fought had unsurprisingly taken a toll on all of them. It’s why they’re getting an apartment actually; they could move into the university dorms, but since all of them are entering different faculties, which would mean that there wouldn't even be a _chance_ of rooming together, none of them felt comfortable sharing sleeping space with strangers, not to mention they still have screaming nightmares sometimes. It’s simply smarter, safer, and more comfortable for them to share an apartment off campus. Besides, no doubt, they would start having a constant stream of Shinigami visitors sooner or later, and none of them need the hassle of nosy dorm mates.

Ishida’s footsteps drag them out of spiralling into more depressing thoughts, which is a good thing because Ryuuken has that look on his face again, the one that says he’s contemplating hauling all of them in for a psych eval and some group therapy sessions, if only because nobody else has seen fit to force them into it, and he thinks he’s being so subtle but several months of living with the man has taught Ichigo how to read him like an open book. Well okay, maybe not an open book, but she gets glimpses of at least a couple handfuls of pages every now and then. That’s already better than just about the rest of the planet’s population.

Ishida steps into the kitchen, the promised brochures in one hand, and then he pauses, attention zeroing in on Ichigo’s face and glancing at the other two before looking back at her again. His eyes narrow but he says nothing when they don’t bring it up.

“I’ve got them,” Ishida says instead. “Now are we going or not? We won’t be seeing anything if we don’t head out now.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Ichigo rallies, shoving aside her darker memories in favour of their week-long trip. “We should get going.” She glances over at Ryuuken, who’s finally managed to keep a piece of toast for himself. Ichigo has to suppress a snicker. “See you when we get back then, Ryuuken-san.”

Ryuuken hums an acknowledgement even as Inoue and Chad chorus polite goodbyes, and Ishida nods once, a little stiff but only out of awkwardness instead of hostility – which hey, progress! – and then they’re all trooping out the door into the morning sun.

“We’ll have a car between the four of us when we start Toudai,” Ishida brings up when they’re halfway to the station.

The rest of them turn to blink at him.

“We will?” Ichigo scratches at one cheek. “From where? And Inoue and I still have a few months to go before we turn eighteen so we don’t have a proper license yet anyway.”

Ishida waves a dismissive hand. “You’ll both have it by the time we start school, so Sado-kun and I can drive us there on the way over. As for the car...” He adjusts his glasses. “Ryuuken’s planning on buying one for us.”

Ichigo’s eyebrows rise, Inoue is wide-eyed, and even Chad looks surprised. “Really? I haven’t heard him say anything about this.”

Ishida shrugs, clearing his throat. “He was looking through a car catalogue one day. He never does that. And I overheard him talking to someone over the phone about Audis and Porsches and Jaguars. I’m fairly certain they’re not for him.”

Ichigo bites back a smile at the image that flashes through her mind. No, probably not.

“He doesn't have to though,” Inoue interjects, brow knitting a little. “I mean, if it’s for _you_ , then that’s fine of course, but...”

“There’s no way Ryuuken’s going to hand me a set of keys but not do the same for Kurosaki,” Ishida says in such a matter-of-fact way that it sends a disgustingly mushy sense of warmth through Ichigo for several seconds. “And since we’ll be living together, it’s only logical to assume that he’ll have copies made for all of us. He’s practical like that. Besides, even if he doesn't, _I’ll_ have keys made for the four of us anyway.”

Inoue beams up at him at this. “That’s very nice of you, Ishida-kun, thank you!”

Ichigo suppresses a snicker when her cousin turns his head away, cheeks flushing pale pink.

“Yes, well, it isn’t as if I’ll be driving all the time,” Ishida hastily explains. “And it would be a waste to leave the car in the parking lot just to gather dust.”

Ichigo rolls her eyes at Chad, who doesn't smile but his eyes gleam with amusement all the same.

“We get it, Cousin,” Ichigo slings an arm around the Quincy, only for Ishida to elbow her in the ribs to get her to let go. Ichigo grins widely all the same. “You love us too much to let us beg rides off of big scary strangers-”

“On second thought, Kurosaki, I can’t _wait_ to strand _you_ on the side of a road.”

 

* * *

 

They end up sightseeing more than anything else the first two days. Ishida moans and groans about it, but in the end, he’s the one who drags them all to various clothing stores not found in Karakura, citing that if he has to put up with their antics, he’s at least going to do it in venues he can actually enjoy himself in.

Ichigo rolls her eyes hard enough to nearly strain herself but she suffers through Ishida putting her in seven different outfits, and then she even relents and buys the two that Ishida flutters over the most, if only because it makes the Quincy look stupidly pleased with himself when she apparently takes his advice.

They do find an apartment eventually, and it doesn't even take them the rest of the week. It’s a twenty-minute walk from the university, and it isn’t particularly extravagant but it is spacious, especially for the residence of a handful of students, with two floors, six bedrooms, four bathrooms, a kitchen, a sitting room, and a place for the laundry. Naturally, they're planning ahead for supernatural guests bumming food and sleeping space off of them, so the extra rooms are in no way a waste of money. Even better, the four of them only have to pay half the rent; the other half is – upon the shopkeeper’s insistence – already covered by Kisuke. The man would've paid for the entire thing but Ichigo put her foot down. Kisuke’s the sort to go overboard if you let him, and Ichigo has no wish to end up living it up in a mansion or something.

They make the down payment for the apartment before spending the last few days touring other parts of Tokyo, and by the time they get home, all of them are exhausted but also definitely more relaxed than they have been since the Quincy War ended.

Just in time to take up their duties for school and Seireitei once more.

“Hey,” Ichigo nudges Ishida with one bare foot from where she’s sprawled tiredly on his bed, fresh out of the shower and decked in fresh pajamas. Ishida bats her foot away and wrinkles his nose at her from his desk chair where he’s organizing the paperwork given to them by their new landlord.

“What?”

Ichigo purses her lips. “Are you going to help Kyouraku-san with the peace talks?”

Ishida pulls a face full of distaste even as he turns back to the papers. “Well, he’ll have to ask first, won’t he? But he’s a Shinigami; he won’t ask.”

Ichigo snorts. “Don’t be deliberately obtuse; he’ll ask. In fact, I have it on good authority that he will.”

Ishida sneers at her. “‘Deliberately obtuse’; I see you've finally expanded your vocabulary beyond Neanderthal levels.” Ichigo scowls back at him. Ishida sniffs. “You better not have given him the idea.”

“I didn’t!” Ichigo lies shamelessly. “But even if I did, it wouldn’t be so bad, would it?”

Ishida grumbles something under his breath but doesn't actually outright disagree. Ichigo flops onto her back, tucks her arms behind her head, and rolls her eyes at the ceiling.

Silence ensues, comfortable despite the previous topic of conversation, with only the occasional rustle of pages filling the air.

It lulls her to sleep, dozing off right there to the scratch of Ishida’s pen. When she wakes up again, morning sunlight is peeking in through the curtains, she’s under the covers instead of on top of them, and when she peers over the edge of the bed, she finds Ishida on the floor, wrapped up in a sleeping bag and snoring softly into his own pillow.

A quiet knock at the bedroom door makes her look up, squinting groggily as the door swings open and Ryuuken sticks his head in. He doesn't even look surprised, probably having already seen their unintended sleeping arrangement last night.

“I’m heading to work,” Ryuuken tells her when he sees that she's (semi-)awake. “I have an early shift.”

Ichigo nods, stifling a yawn as she runs a hand through her tousled hair. “Have a good day. You’ll be home for dinner?”

Ryuuken is silent for just a beat too long, but when Ichigo blinks at him, all he does is nod, features as composed as ever even as he withdraws, closing the door again with a near-inaudible click.

Ichigo mentally shrugs. It’s too early to pixelate her uncle’s inscrutable expressions.

She stretches languidly as Ryuuken’s car revs to life outside, feeling content for once after an undisturbed night of rest.

Pancakes, she thinks. Chocolate chip ones. Ishida can deny it all he wants but she knows he likes them.

After that though, well, she has a political meeting next week to prepare for, and Ishida will probably be fielding Kyouraku tomorrow if not today.

Life waits for no one after all.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Please leave a review on your way out.**


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